Judge refuses to hear Muslim woman's evidence in court after the woman refused to remove her veil

A Muslim woman who refused to take off her burqa in court to give evidence in a civil case has failed to show at her own hearing today — a day after a judge refused to hear her evidence unless she revealed her face.

Moutia Elzahed, one of two women married to convicted criminal and Islamic extremist Hamdi Alqudsi, is suing the police alleging they punched her and called her a "bitch" during the Operation Appleby terrorism raids at her Revesby home on September 18, 2014.

In what lawyers ­believe is an Australian first, NSW District Court judge Audrey Balla would not let Ms Elzahed take the stand in the civil case while she wore her veil yesterday.